Abstract

Audiences of the 50s and 60s were enthralled by the British sci-fi film and TV productions of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, including the strange worlds of Supercar, Fireball XL5, Stingray, Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, Joe 90, The Secret Service, UFO and Space: 1999.

With open access to original hand-written scores and recordings from the newly-founded Barry Gray Archive, and drawing from episodes whose music exploited an early and sometimes unconscious tightrope-walking between diegetic and non-diegetic sound, Dr François Evans identifies repertoire to reveal the working methods of Barry Gray (1908-1984), a British composer who pioneered the use of electronics in soundtracks of the mid-20th century, to build sound worlds contrived to command plausibility.

Gray was born ‘John Eccles’ in Bolton, Lancashire, 1908, he invented the term ‘musifex’ and also built the electroacoustic sound design for the 60s’ Peter Cushing ‘Dr Who’ features.

With the Barry Gray Archive, film composer François Evans has assisted in the preservation of Gray’s work for future generations; digitizing scores and recordings from remarkable, illuminated, foxed manuscripts and flaking spools.